About us

Campus Crops is a student run urban gardening initiative at McGill University's downtown campus. We want to grow food on campus, by students, for students. We have been running garden behind the School of Environment building at 3534 University since 2007. In 2009 we started a terrace garden behind the James Administration building. We're really excited to keep improving these two spaces, and need lots of helping hands for the summer ahead! Get in touch and get gardening!

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Mandate

As of March 8th, 2011, this is the Campus Crops mandate

What we do

Campus Crops is a collective at McGill that works on urban agriculture initiatives throughout the year. Our goal is to grow food on campus and provide students and community members with space and opportunities to learn by doing. We also seek to promote discussion around issues of food politics and food security through social and educational events such as workshops, film screenings and potlucks. During the warmer months we run a garden behind the McGill School of Environment building at 3534 University, as well as a terrace garden behind the James Administration building. We work closely with Midnight Kitchen and are a working group of QPIRG McGill.

Why we do it

Our goal is to empower people of all-skill levels. We seek to reclaim neglected or under-used urban spaces and instead, put it to good use by creating alternative food systems. Additionally, we hope that our work is a step towards decentralizing and de-institutionalizing skills that have been monopolized by the capitalist food system. The skills that we hope to pass on will be done through the means of popular education, knowledge sharing and gettin' dirteeee.

How we do it

We are a collective that organizes in a non-hierarchical and inclusive manner. Decisions are made through consensus and positions/tasks rotate between members in order to work against knowledge becoming centralized with just a few.

Organizational structureSince Fall 2012, members of the collective have decided to organize their activities following a simple structure consisting of 5 positions:

-Event coordinator: In charge of organizing workshops, field trips, film screenings and other events.-Finance coordinator: In charge of the email account, finances, and fundraisers, and is also the liaison with administration members of McGill University, the Student Society of McGill University, QPIRG-McGill, and the Sustainability Projects Fund.-Media coordinator: In charge of the Facebook page and group, the Twitter account, the blog, the listserv, zines, poster-making and outreach for events.-Project coordinator: In charge of making sure short- and medium-term projects of the collective are carried through.-Garden coordinator: In charge of day-to-day garden upkeep, weekly garden meetings, and agriculture-oriented workshops. Must also produce an exit report at the end of the growing season. Only position open for external hire during the summer.

All positions are rotated twice a year (May and September). All positions (except the summer garden coordinator) receive a small stipend per term (summer and school year).